A bill authored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen has erased, at least for the moment, the partisan line that divides Republicans and Democrats.
On Monday, the Senate unanimously passed the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, which Shaheen said would “empower survivors to be informed, fairly treated participants throughout the criminal justice process.”
We believe it will and applaud Shaheen for her efforts to reform a deeply flawed system, one in which only a quarter of sexual assaults are ever reported, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
The legislation, which is the first of its kind to pass in the Senate, gives victims of sexual assault the rights to: not be charged for a medical forensic exam; have a sexual assault evidence collection kit preserved for the entire statue of limitations; be notified in writing 60 days before a rape kit is destroyed; request further preservation of the kit; and be informed of important results of a forensic examination.
While the bill applies to federal cases only, Shaheen believes it will serve as “a model and catalyst for states to improve their own laws” – including New Hampshire.
To that end, the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence hopes to strengthen the state’s laws by requiring that victims be informed of the results of the kit, that the kits be maintained until the statute of limitations expires, which is currently six years, and that victims are given notice if their kit is going to be destroyed. The NHCADSV, which helped Shaheen craft the Survivors’ Rights Act, also wants to work with state lawmakers to eliminate the criminal and civil statute of limitations in child sexual assault cases.
The federal legislation authored by Shaheen took root 10 months ago, when a 24-year-old State Department employee named Amanda Nguyen shared her story with the state’s senior senator. Nguyen was raped two years ago in Massachusetts, and ever since that day she has had to battle repeatedly for basic justice, such as preventing her rape kit from being destroyed as she navigated complex rules and regulations. “I had to pen my own rights into existence,” she told the Guardian.
After founding a survivor rights organization called Rise, Nguyen and volunteers began lobbying elected officials to confront the problem through legislation. And that is when she found Shaheen, her voice in the Senate.
After the Senate’s vote on Monday, Shaheen said it’s time to change the culture around how sexual assault survivors are treated in the U.S. justice system. She couldn’t be more correct, and her bill is an excellent start to righting wrongs that should have been addressed long ago.
The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act is now headed to the House, where it should pass with ease and be sent to the White House for President Obama’s signature. In this deeply divided nation, at least there is some solace in knowing that bipartisanship can still make an appearance when there’s an opportunity to eliminate clear injustice.